Makeup Companies Using Men to Market Products

In 2016 Maybelline and CoverGirl both made a leap by announcing male models as spokesmen for their makeup brands via social media. A first. They say putting on makeup isn’t gender specific. Men wearing makeup isn’t really new, but it’s still not seen as common. David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Boy George, and others have worn makeup as part of their performance and life. But bringing in male models and makeup artists to showcase makeup in a more general setting is new.

CoverGirl, err, CoverBoy?

James Charles is a high school senior and makeup artist. For his junior prom he put on makeup, took pictures, and posted them to his Instagram account. The pictures went viral, and just a few months later he had a contract with CoverGirl as their new male makeup spokesman. That initial picture also garnered him 400K followers on the account.

Now he shares the spokesperson role with Katy Perry in promoting the beauty products. You’ll soon be seeing him in print and digital campaigns, and he’ll be launching with their new So Lashy Mascara. He said: “I think it’s important for brands to recognize the male population because we’re growing. I see more and more beautiful boys in makeup every single day on social media…we love makeup just as much as the rest.”

Down the line, Charles may even find that the brand has developed a line of products just for men that he can represent. Right now, CG is stressing that makeup is no longer just for the ladies.

Maybelline

Maybelline made their hire a few months after CG, and they call their new rep a “male makeup ambassador.” Manny Gutierrez broke the news on his social media accounts early in January where he has over 3 million followers. He’s known as “MannyMua” on YouTube and “mannymua733” on Instagram. In breaking the news, he said: “Honestly I couldn’t be more honored [or] thrilled! Thank you to Maybelline for taking a chance on me!”

Gutierrez will star in Maybelline’s new campaign, “That Boss Life” along with beauty blogger Shayla Mitchell and Jackie Flowers, a contest winner as they promote Big Shot Mascara. Gutierrez was raised in California and is 25. He also used YouTube as the vehicle to come out publicly in August.

Both men have faces that will highlight makeup beautifully; they’ve already done well at the art of social media and makeup, so they should be excellent choices for the brands to test their male campaigns. What brand do you suppose is likely to hire the next make makeup spokesman? It will be interesting to see if this trend brings innovations to the industry.